Is this the worst frame-rate in any game ever?

Sometimes, we're shocked by how bad old games often are. But it takes a special kind of bad to be this bad. This is Virtual Hydlide, the 1995 3D sequel to an ancient NES and MSX game that nobody remembers. It was bad at the time. Now, it's absolutely shocking. Just look at the poor old Sega Saturn attempting to render a forest of flat trees, flat ground AND a castle. Ready for 5fps action?

It's a well-known fact that the way to get the best performance out of a Sega Saturn was to write code specifically addressing the two different processors inside the machine, usually sending 2D graphics to one and 3D to the other. I have a sneaky suspicion that the code here was written to directly address the processor of a ColecoVision. In another room. Via sign language sent as polaroids... by second-class post.

Bear in mind that this game would have retailed for £50 when it was new. Have you seen any full-price retail games with worse frame-rates than this? And no, PS3 Skyrim doesn't count. I challenge you to find one... then let us know in the comments.

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Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.